The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-09-15

C1cy 0aQ only one man " ucdi "isn'
Any attempt to leave by way of the
valley would be checkmated, and l
could not get out at the upper end
without going over the wild and rugged
mountains. l should, however, have
returned to the mouth of the gulch to
try some other way, but while L was
burning last match heard great
clatter on the rocky bed of the rift a
few yards off. Believing the Indians
to be coming, I looked swiftly around
for some place of concealment or adj
vantage, and to my right l saw a hole
in the rocks. In three jumps Twas at
the spot, and ten seconds later l had
crawled into the hole on hands and
knees. The minute got my nose in
side l smelt bear. Indeed, the odor
was strong enough to stif1e me. L
knew also that had entered den or
cave of considerable extent, and l
hastily struck q match to look around
me. 1t was a cave. While the en-
trance was very narrow, the chamber
was at least eight by twelve in size.
and high enough for me to stand up
in.
1t required only a few seconds to
take in what have told you, and the
match had just expired when heard a
sniff and a "woofr' at the entrance,
and not only smelt bear, but 1 heard
him. He had his head in the hole, and
1 whirled my rife about and fired right
into his face. The roar he uttered
shook the solid rock of the cavern, and
he drew back, tumbled about in the
gulch for two or three minutes, and
then made of, whining with pain and
growing with anger as he went. When
1 could hear him no more, l lighted
another match and looked for hairs on
the rocks. They were there in plenty,
and they were proofs that it was Gin
namon bear whom had turned out of
house and home. There was a couple
of loose rocks on the floor of the den,
and the first move l made was to roll
them up and block the entrance. While
they did not fill the aperture, they
created an obstruction which neither
man nor bear could remove while was
behind them.
In about twenty minutes the bear re-
turned, accompanied by his mate, and
for the next half hour they made lively
work for me, They were fercely de-
termined to get at me, and. as 1 did
not wish to discharge my rifle again,
for fear the report would be heard by
the Indians. l had to resist them by
jamming their heads with the muzzle.
The brutes gave it up at last as bad
Job, but while the well one went away
the wounded one lay down exactly in
front Of the entrance and licked his
wounds and uttered low growls. He
had put himself on guard, and he
meant to stay by until he had had re-
venge. had hastily gathered up a
small quantity of provisions when ]
left camp. and, though 1 had no water,
l should not suffer much for a couple
of days. The only thing I could do
was to make myself as comfortable as
possible and wait for something to turn
up. l cared very little about the bears,
knowing that l could kill them off at
any time, but the Indians were to be
seriously considered. They would
leave no stone unturned to find nv
hiding place, and once they found me.
situated as then was, l was a dead
man.
There was no change in the situation
until about shutdown, when the other
bear returned, and a second attempt
was made to get at me. They were SO
determined that had to use my re-
volver, firing four shots, and, while
neither of them was killed, both were
driven to fury by the wounds. The one
went off as before, while the other lay
down at the mouth of the den, and the
night passed without disturbance. /
slept pretty well for man in a bears
den. but awoke just as daylight was
filtering down into the gulch. 1t was
a fierce roar from the bear which
aroused me. 1 thought his mate had
returned and that another attempt was
to be made on my defences. but was
quickly set right. The bear started
down the gulch, and inside of minute
1 heard shots and shouts. Then the
roars of second bear were heard, and
for five minutes there was terrible
commotion hundred feet below me. /
could see dark shadows struggling to-
gether, and knew the shouts came
from the Indians, but 1 was not clear
in the matter until the day grew
stronger and the fight was over. Then
/ made out heap of dead.
It was good hour before I pulled
away the rocks and crawled out. /
had figured that the Indians had trailed
me up the gulch and been attacked by
the bears. and 1 was right. 1 simply
waited to be sure that all were dead.
When 1 finally crept cautiously down
to the heap 1 found the two bears and
three Indians in pile, and each and all
were growing cold in death. The bears
had been shot and stabbed again and
again, but the redskins were sight to
see. The flesh had literally been stripped
off their bones, and one of them, whose
body pulled out for the purpose of
examination, seemed to have every
bone crushed. while his neck was also
broken.
My mule had not been disturbed,
nor had they found my cache of furs.
l took the day to pack up, and got
ready for a long journey. and when